Ricardo González
González at the 2009 KLM Open
Personal information
Born (1969-10-24) 24 October 1969
Corrientes, Argentina
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight93 kg (205 lb; 14.6 st)
Sporting nationality Argentina
ResidenceRosario, Argentina
Career
Turned professional1986
Current tour(s)European Senior Tour
TPG Tour
Former tour(s)European Tour
Challenge Tour
Professional wins28
Highest ranking61 (20 October 2002)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour4
Challenge Tour2
European Senior Tour1
Other21
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipT10: 2002
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 1990, 2002
Achievements and awards
TPG Tour
Order of Merit winner
2018

Ricardo González (born 24 October 1969) is an Argentine professional golfer.

Career

González turned professional in 1986, and has spent much of his career in Europe. He won a place on the European Tour in 1992 through qualifying school after playing on the second tier Challenge Tour in 1991. Having failed to win sufficient money to retain his tour card, he returned to the Challenge Tour in 1993.

Having moved to Africa, González returned to Europe in 1998 after winning the Challenge Tour sanctioned Tusker Kenya Open, and secured a second shot on the European Tour by finishing 5th on the Challenge Tour Rankings that season. He has successfully retained his playing privileges since then by consistently finishing inside the top 115 of the Order of Merit each year.

González has accumulated four European Tour wins, with a best year-end ranking on the European Tour Order of Merit of 25th place in 2001. He has also won many tournaments in South America, and has represented Argentina at the World Cup on four occasions, in 1996, 1998, 2005 and 2007.

He won his fourth career European Tour event in 2009 at the SAS Masters in Sweden by two strokes over Welshman Jamie Donaldson. It was his first win on the European Tour in five years.[2]

After several down years, González qualified for the European Tour through qualifying school in 2016. At age 47, he was the oldest Q school graduate in Tour history.

Professional wins (28)

European Tour wins (4)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 9 Sep 2001 Omega European Masters −16 (65-67-68-68=268) 3 strokes Denmark Søren Hansen
2 26 Oct 2003 Telefónica Open de Madrid −14 (69-70-66-65=270) 1 stroke England Paul Casey, Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington,
Australia Nick O'Hern, Sweden Mårten Olander
3 18 Apr 2004 Open de Sevilla −14 (70-66-69-69=274) 2 strokes Scotland Stephen Gallacher, England Jonathan Lomas
4 26 Jul 2009 SAS Masters −10 (68-68-77-69=282) 2 strokes Wales Jamie Donaldson

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2013 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles England Tommy Fleetwood, Scotland Stephen Gallacher Fleetwood won with birdie on first extra hole

Challenge Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 23 Sep 1990 Esab Open −9 (67-68=135)* Playoff Denmark Ole Eskildsen
2 15 Mar 1998 Tusker Kenya Open −12 (69-65-69-69=272) Playoff Kenya Jacob Okello

*Note: The 1990 Esab Open was shortened to 36 holes due to rain.

Challenge Tour playoff record (2–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1990 Esab Open Denmark Ole Eskildsen Won with par on second extra hole
2 1998 Tusker Kenya Open Kenya Jacob Okello Won with par on third extra hole

TPG Tour wins (9)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 9 Jun 2007 Abierto del Norte −19 (65-67-66-67=265) Shared title with Argentina Andrés Romero
2 29 Nov 2009 Abierto del Litoral −3 (70-69-71-67=277) Playoff Argentina Andrés Romero
3 3 Oct 2010 Abierto del Litoral (2) −7 (71-70-68-64=273) 3 strokes Argentina Rafael Gómez, Argentina Mauricio Molina
4 30 Sep 2012 Argentine PGA Championship −9 (73-72-66-68=279) 4 strokes Argentina Francisco Bidé, Argentina Clodomiro Carranza,
Argentina Roberto Cóceres, Argentina Emilio Domínguez
5 24 Nov 2013 Abierto del Litoral (3) −12 (66-69-64-69=268) 4 strokes Argentina Sergio Acevedo
6 28 Jan 2018 Abierto del Sur −20 (68-67-60-65=260) 1 stroke Argentina Maximiliano Godoy
7 30 Sep 2018 Abierto de Salta −15 (69-64-69-67=269) 1 stroke Argentina Maximiliano Godoy
8 15 Mar 2020 Abierto Norpatagónico −6 (69-67=136)* Shared title with Argentina Andrés Gallegos
9 22 Jan 2023 Abierto del Sur (2) −11 (64-71-65-69=269) 7 strokes Argentina Exequiel López, Argentina Jaime López Rivarola

*Note: The 2020 Abierto Norpatagónico was shortened to 36 holes due to COVID-19 concerns.

Other wins (12)

European Senior Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 23 Oct 2022 Italian Senior Open −2 (69-72-70=211) 3 strokes South Africa James Kingston

Results in major championships

Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship T10 CUT CUT

Note: González never played in the Masters Tournament or the U.S. Open.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament20022003200420052006200720082009
Match Play
Championship
Invitational T28 T50
Champions T45
  Did not play

"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Equipment

  • Irons - Mizuno MP-62 Black Nickel, Project X 7.0
  • Wedges - Mizuno MPT-10 White Satin 52, 60/08

See also

References

  1. "Week 42 2002 Ending 20 Oct 2002" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  2. "Final flourish earns Gonzalez victory in Malmo". The Guardian. 2009-07-26. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
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